I Had The Craziest Dream
by ravenclawprincess95
Summary: The morning after Steve comes home, there are still a few things to work out. A companion piece to It's Been a Long, Long Time, that can be read alone.


_A/N: _So this is a companion piece to my story _It's Been a Long, Long Time_. If I continue to write little chapters like this, I will publish them as one-shots, where there is a continuous storyline, but they can also be read individually. I have another series like this in the HP world called Life With the Potters if you would like to read those. But, please enjoy this story!

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As the early morning rays came in through the windows, Peggy rolled over. She had had the most wonderful dream that Steve had finally come home to her, that they had shared the dance he'd always promised her, and that at the end of the night, he had insisted on being a gentleman, because of course Steve would never get into bed with her before marriage, had closed the curtains on her living room and gone to bed on the couch. She stretched her arms out lazily, and glanced at the tiny alarm clock on the bedside table. _9:42._

"Bloody hell!" She exclaimed scrambling to get out of bed. She grabbed her dressing gown from the foot of her bed, shoved her feet into her slippers and ran out of the bedroom. She flew down the hall and the stairs, and rounded the corner into the kitchen to quickly boil some water for tea when,

"Good morning." Steve said turning his head from the stove to look at her with a smile on his face. "Did you sleep well?"

Peggy slumped at the door frame trying to catch her breath. "It wasn't a dream then." She muttered to herself. She looked at the super soldier. "You're cooking." She said slowly.

Steve turned back to the stove and pushed the eggs around with a spatula. "Yeah. I used to cook breakfast for me and one of my friends back in the future. The only things she could make were baklava and peanut butter jelly sandwiches." He grabbed two plates from the cupboard and pushed the eggs onto them, and grabbed two pieces of bread and placed them on the plates, after cutting them into two halves diagonally. "We were on the run together for a while, and then after we were able to come out of hiding, neither of us had anyone left but each other so she would sit in a big empty compound trying to run the universe and I would come back to base a few times a week and make sure she was eating properly." Steve put the plates on the small kitchen table, and poured some orange juice in two glasses that had already been placed there. He also had her teapot out, with a cup waiting for her to pour.

Peggy sat down gingerly and looked down at the food. "Was she your girl?" She asked.

Steve sat down across from her, and shook his head. "Natasha? No. She was too invested in her job when we met, and then she took a fancy to another guy we worked with, Bruce." He paused and took a bite of toast. "Didn't stop her from trying to set me up with every girl who smiled at me though. She didn't like the idea of me being alone." He smiled sadly. "She was a good friend."

"Won't she miss you?" She asked. "It sounds like the two of you were very close."

Steve didn't answer right away. "Natasha," He started, his eyes getting moist. "She gave her life to save half the universe. She was a hero in every sense of the word." He looked down at his plate.

Peggy reached her hand across the table and grasped his. "Did you have any other friends?" She asked trying to lighten the mood.

Steve smiled, and looked at her appreciatively. "Tony. He died in the same fight as Natasha. His dad sort of hero worshipped me, and rarely gave him the affection he needed or deserved so he kinda hated me for a while, but Tony was a good guy in the end, who died to protect what mattered most to him. Then there was Bruce. He was an absolute genius. I couldn't understand him half the time when he talked, and if you put him and Tony in the same room, then forget about it. They were mad scientists. They could have built anything you could think of together. Then, let's see, there was Thor. He was, quite literally from another world."

"Hang on. Thor? As in the god of Ancient Norse Mythology, Thor?" Peggy asked in disbelief.

Steve nodded, a smile breaking out. "Not so mythological it turns out. I never went to Asgard, but the Asgardian's I did meet? They were something else." He chuckled. "Then there was Clint. He was half deaf, never used a gun, but God help you if he had you in his sights when he was holding his bow and arrow. And he was a real family man. He was arrested once for me, and he gave up his job, and agreed to wear an ankle monitor just so he could go home to his wife and kids." He was about to open his mouth again when suddenly the telephone rang.

"Damn it." She swore. "Hang on one minute." She got up and moved to the hall, and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Peggy?" Sousa's voice came through the receiver. "What are you still doing at home? Is everything alright?"

'_Bloody hell.'_ She thought. "No, everything's fine." She said quickly. "I slept straight through my alarm Daniel, and I think I'm going to have to take a personal day." Her voice was slightly strained.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Are you sure you're alright Peg? Do you need me to come over there?"

"No!" Peggy shouted. "I mean no, you don't have to come here. I'm fine, just feeling a bit peaked that's all. I should be right as rain tomorrow."

"If you're sure..." Daniel trailed off, suspicion evident in his voice.

"I'm positive Daniel. Thank you for calling and I'll see you in the office tomorrow." Peggy said quickly and hung up the phone.

Steve came out in the hallway. "Everything okay?"

Peggy turned around to look at him, one hand on her waist, and leaned against the wall. "That was just work. I'm normally never late, and they just wanted to make sure I was alright." She lifted her hand up and rubbed it, open palm over her eyes, and down her cheek, leaving it to rest at her neck. "I don't think I did a good job convincing him, but you and I have a few more important things to sort out right now."

Steve came over and pulled her against him. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry if I've made things complicated for you." He said. "I know that you're important at the SSR, but I just wanted to be with you."

Peggy sighed, then pulled back. "How did you know that I was still with the SSR?" She asked.

Steve blushed. "I, umm, sort of looked you up when I came out of the ice." He said in an embarrassed voice. "I wanted to make sure that you were happy, and that everything worked out for you."

Peggy leaned back in against his chest, smiling. "Well, I had to keep living, and I bloody well couldn't go back to being a secretary or shop girl after the war."

Steve laughed, "How anyone could expect that of you Miss Carter is beyond me." He guided her back into the kitchen and cleared the empty plates from the table. "So tell me about your life. Who are your friends, what do you like to do outside the SSR, that sort of thing?" He said as he started to wash the dishes.

"Well," Peggy started. "My life is pretty boring. I get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, then go to bed. Occasionally I'll see Harold, or Jarvis, his butler, for dinner, and the odd science experiment, or I'll go out in the middle of the night because I want to explore a lead on a case that I wouldn't be able to during the day, but other than that, my life is fairly hum-drum."

Steve finished washing the dishes, then came and sat down. "You could never be hum-drum." He said kissing her knuckles.

Peggy smiled. "We have to figure out what to do now that you're here."

Steve sighed. "As far as the world is concerned, I'm missing presumed dead."

Peggy nodded her head. "I could come up with some false papers for you. That could take care of certain things, but there is still the matter of your name and appearance. That could be harder to explain."

"I don't mind staying out of the public eye." Steve said. "I'm sort of tired of being a public figure to be completely honest. But my name, I could change if it would be easier."

"What would you change it to?" Peggy asked. "I don't think I could ever get used to calling you anything other than Steve."

Steve thought for a moment. "What if I changed it to Steve Carter?"

"That's ridiculous. Then you would have the same last name as..." She trailed off realizing what Steve was suggesting. "You want to take my name?"

Steve shrugged his shoulders. "I know it isn't traditional, but most married couples share a name, and I know of a few couples where the husband took the wife's name in future. We'd just be ahead of the trend."

Peggy was shocked. "You want to marry me?"

Steve ran his hand through his hair. "I have carried your picture in my compass for over 10 years. Even in the future, you were the only girl I could ever imagine myself being with, despite Nat's hopes that she would be able to walk me down the aisle. I found your address and visited you in your old age, because I just wanted to be with you. So when I realized that I had the chance to come home, I didn't go to Brooklyn, or DC, or even Fort Benning. I came here, so I could be with you, my home. So yes Peggy Carter, I want to marry you, if you'll have me."

"This wouldn't be a traditional marriage you know." She said in wet voice. "I'd have to be the one who went out and worked to support us. You're too damn recognizable even now. You'd have to be a house husband."

Steve laughed. "I've already proven I don't mind doing the cooking and cleaning. Plus, I'm ready to be out of the public eye." He smiled at her. "So is that a yes?"

Peggy let out a choked laugh. "Yes Steve Rogers, I will marry you."


End file.
